COLAs to raise city employees' salaries, union contracts in limbo

PORTSMOUTH — Contracts with 13 city labor unions expired Tuesday, the same day a cost-of-living salary increase took effect for municipal employees who have current contracts.

Elizabeth Dinan

PORTSMOUTH — Contracts with 13 city labor unions expired Tuesday, the same day a cost-of-living salary increase took effect for municipal employees who have current contracts.

City Manager John Bohenko said two unions have endorsed new contracts with the city, and those contracts have been approved by city officials, so those employees are eligible for cost-of-living adjustments, known as COLAs.

The amount of the COLAs are calculated using a 10-year average based on the consumer price index for the New England area, explained city Human Resources Director Diana Fogarty, who said the numbers are obtained from the federal Department of Labor and are based on factors including regional costs for housing, food and fuel.

Portsmouth used the rate set in November 2013 for advance budgeting purposes and it became effective July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year, she said.

The COLAs calculated for eligible employees this year, Bohenko said, add 2.02 percent to their earnings.

Fogarty said contracts for school department custodial supervisors and school clerical workers are current, so those employees will see the 2.02 percent increases.

So, too, will city officials working with current individual contracts, including Portsmouth Fire Chief Steve Achilles, who was paid $110,612 last year, Deputy Fire Chief James Heinz, who was paid $88,564 in 2013, and Deputy Fire Chief Carl Roediger, who earned $84,185.

Also covered by current contracts are Police Chief Stephen DuBois, who was paid $117,282 in 2013, and Deputy Police Chief Corey MacDonald, whose contract pays him a $91,956 annual base salary.

Bohenko was paid $174,795 last year and his contract is valid through June 2017. Also working with a valid contract is School Superintendent Ed McDonough, who earned $129,428 in 2013.

All of those city officials who have current contracts will receive the COLA, according to Fogarty.

She said the city has a tentative agreement with the school administrators union and that contract will go before the City Council on July 14.

The city also has tentative agreements, pending approval, with unions representing school cafeteria employees and public works supervisors, Fogarty said.

The remaining 10 municipal labor unions are now working without current contracts and do not have tentative agreements, she said.

Fogarty said there is no guarantee that future contracts will include COLAs because that is an item to be negotiated.

During the last calendar year, the city paid $25.7 million in wages and salaries for school department employees, and an additional $22.5 million in wages and salaries to employees on the "city side" of the municipal budget.

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